introductory mingle: DRAGOSTA

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Dragosta celebration
when: The month of September.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

dragosta

In the days leading up to September 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Dragosta. This holiday is in celebration of romantic love, and seen as a time of the year for Quarantine residents to try to find someone special to cuddle up with in preparation for the cold winter months. Romantic love is highly valued in Riverview Quarantine, as it can foster an incredible sense of wellness and belonging, and is often the cornerstone of found families as well as biological ones. While there are no official city-sponsored parties, there are various holiday traditions and a paid day off on September 8th so anyone who wants to indulge in them with their loved one can do so.

a celebration of romantic love

Rather than anything structured and organized by the city, Dragosta is a celebration usually left up to the citizens of the city to organize for themselves - there are a few traditions that many businesses (obviously) capitalize on, mainly the tradition of special date nights with small gifts exchanged for people who've already matched up or want to. There are also various singles dances intended to help people without partners find someone to share the special holiday with, and a tradition among the various magic users in the city of preparing soul mate potions and spells intended to help people find the person they're meant to be with.

i. soulmates

Almost as soon as it hits midnight on August 31st, booths and street corner vendors are popping up all around the city offering various magical potions and spells in little rows of bottles. The number of types are overwhelming, with a different concoction available for every type of magic that exists across thousands of different worlds. But the purpose of every single bottle and its contents is exactly the same: to help you find love. Specifically, these are the traditional magics that promise to give anyone who uses them the ability to find or identify their soulmate.

These little bits of magic can have various effects on the person using them (reminiscent of the soulmate trope in fiction), depending on the type of magic and the person who prepared them, and the options are almost endless. There are a few comfortable standbys, though, that pop up pretty much every year:

● Rainbow Potion: Tiny bottles of a soft rainbow-colored potion that affects the vision. Once drunk, the potion will remove the partaker's ability to see in color until the first time they meet their soulmate after ingestion, then all the colors will come flooding back.
● Time Spell: Purchasing a time spell will get you a little vial of liquid with a tiny hourglass inside. Pouring out the liquid and turning the tiny hourglass will result in the appearance of a timer counting down on the partaker's skin somewhere - like a moving tattoo, it will count down the days, hours, minutes, and even seconds until the person will meet their soulmate for the first time after the spell is initiated.
● Red Thread: Some residents might've heard of the legend of the red thread of fate, a red thread that is tied between the ankles or little fingers of two people destined to fall in love. Tiny jars with a delicate red thread attached to a note (the contents of which are unreadable) are sold to invoke this legend. Once opened, the user should tie the red thread around their smallest finger on the left side and a red thread only that person and their soulmate can see will appear, tying them together. It may stretch or tangle, but will never break.
● Ink Potion: Small vials of a mysterious black liquid are one of the more common offerings - this liquid, once carefully spread on a portion of the partaker's skin, will result in a tattoo-like marking in a particular shape, that matches the marking that magically appeared on their soulmate!

While these are the most common types, there are almost infinite numbers of other types of potions, spells, and magics intended to help people find their soulmates, of varying type and quality.

A Few OOC Guidelines:
● Soulmate potions/spells can be used multiple times with different partners, and the effect can last as long (or as briefly) as you want it to.
● Since there is a wide variation of different types of potions/spells, they can vary in effectiveness. Feel free to use this prompt for either serious shipping or silly pairings for comedic effect.
● There is no compulsion involved in this prompt. The potions/spells will only show the character who their supposed soulmate is, not compel them to fall in love with the other character.
● Because there is no compulsion or alteration of behavior involved, and all effects are temporary and mildly annoying at most, characters ARE allowed to use them on other characters without asking. If your character wouldn't take one of the potions/spells, one of their friends can definitely spike their drink with a potion or use a spell on their behalf. Also, only one party has to use the potion/spell in order for it to work, both parties do not have to partake, though it is up to player discretion how heavily affected the person who did not partake is.
● A long list of trope ideas and variations can be found here. I've only included specific potions/spells for the most common ones I've seen, but please go as wild as you'd like with the types of potions and effects they have, so long as everyone involved is on the same page.
● Mod questions and plotting regarding this prompt can be found here.

ii. singles dances

All around the city, various businesses are hosting and sponsoring singles dances. These dances are an ancient tradition of Dragosta, originating from the reality of a very early group of displaced arrivals. Observed since the founding of Riverview Quarantine, the events have grown and changed with the times, still serving the interests of the modern citizen. The dances will be advertised throughout the city and range in quality, size, and tone, but they will always have the same objective and methodology: to match people up based on chemistry on the dance floor.

All singles or polyamorous pairings/groups looking to add additional members will sign in at the dance of their choice, and attach nametags or stickers to their clothing - pink, blue, or purple to indicate their preferences in partner (female, male, or any), and a "P" or "D" for "poly" or "duo" to indicate their preference for a polyamorous match-up or only one partner. Once they've indicated these preferences, they head out onto the dance floor, where they can either seek out someone they're interested in or wait for someone to come to them. As the dance goes on, and one person approaches another (or a group or pair), the person (or people) approached can either accept or reject the advances, and after finding someone with chemistry, the happy couple (or triad, etc.) can leave the floor together.

Every person who attends and participates will receive vouchers for free dinners and discounts or gift cards for various places in the city to have a nice dinner and get a present for a new paramour, or two or three...!

iii. date nights

This one is pretty simple: restaurants, clubs, hotels, movie theatres, and anything else in the city that might even vaguely be construed as a date location will be offering romantic date night packages, discounts, and other promotions to the lovebirds of the city. There are a few highly-anticipated special events that crop up every year, though.

One of the most popular are the movies in the park, hosted on almost every night of the month, these are romantic comedies and other good date movies from dozens of realities featuring romantic stories in a multitude of different configurations. Lovers are encouraged to bring a picnic blanket and settle on the grass for a nice relaxed show, or tickets can be bought for special experiences such as the mini-deck, with romantic table settings, wine, and catering with a waiter, or the cuddlebug, where a comfortable couch is set up with popcorn and blankets for the lucky lovebirds to curl up on together. The variations are endless!

Another popular option is a retro-futuristic drive-in experience, where any type of vehicle can be driven up to a temporary drive-in diner for a meal, and then pull up to a temporary outdoor theatre. Once parked, the lovebirds can "park" - that is, cuddle and neck in the car to their hearts' content, probably instead of actually watching the movie.

For this prompt, any type of date night discount is cool to assume, or make a mingle top-level with a special event of your own imagining and earn bonus activity points!

iv. kiss and tell

Something a little different is happening during Dragosta this year - one of the magic researchers at Gramarye, who was recently married and only just returned from her honeymoon, got hit with a confusion spell by accident. A little muddled and love-drunk, she acted on her intense desire to make everyone in the city feel just as happy as her, and shared the love by whipping up a potent spell to do so. As a result, residents will see bright little glowing 'fairy lights' floating around the city throughout the entire month of September. What do the fairy lights do, though?

Two or more characters walking under one of these glowing, floating lights will get stuck for one hour, trapped inside an invisible enclosure with an approximate three foot radius. The only options are to either wait out the hour, or to kiss! Characters will know they're meant to kiss, because part of the magic spell is the sudden and intense knowledge that they should kiss in order to break free. There is no compulsion to kiss, just the knowledge that that's how to get free. What the characters won't immediately know is that any kind of kiss will work - a hand, forehead, cheek, or butterfly kiss will work just as well as a kiss on the mouth, but that will require some experimentation to find out.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Dragosta, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Anya Goo; image ii & iv: unknown; image iii: Raphael Grimm

navigation

Comments

[flowlikewater]

[ Genji bites the inside of his cheek to stop from smiling like a loon. ] Oh? If you're okay with it then...

[ He raises a hand up, slowly, and brings it closer to Shigeru's face. Genji flips the hand around, so his knuckles are facing outward and he moves like he wants to brush them against his cheek. ] Like this?

[ His own heart is thudding against his metal ribs himself. Genji's voice is low, almost husky when he speaks again. ] And I'm glad I don't make you nervous.

[mysophobic]

[ Oh. Well Shigeru is just mentally preparing himself for this then. After all his heart is beating so fast right now he's not sure if that's a good sign or not. Having never really...experienced these types of feelings full force is strange and new to him.

Shigeru still flinches instinctively when Genji's hand comes closer to him. But he doesn't pull away, not really, he allows Genji to touch his cheek and he can feel a spike of excitement rush through him as he does so. Shigeru might close his eyes before he finally pulls away, taking a deep breath as he does so, opening them a few seconds later to look at Genji.

That wasn't...so bad, really, he actually doesn't have the immediate need to wash his hands or his face at the moment. So there is some progress being made. ]

[flowlikewater]

[ He brushes his knuckles against his face gently, barely even touching, until he reaches behind his ear. Genji swallows thickly himself after Shigeru closes his eyes and slowly pulls away.

He has to take a deep, steadying breath for a moment. Genji gives him a little, almost hesitant smile. ] Was that okay...?

[ His voice is still soft when he speaks, like if he spoke any louder it would ruin the moment. ]

[mysophobic]

[ Shigeru is pretty much doing the same in terms of steadying his breathing. There's a pause before he looks back at Genji, his eyes filled with admiration and gratitude of sorts. He nods shyly before he looks away down at his phone to type something. ]

That...that was fine. I think I liked it a little bit too. I mean I don't feel anxious or anything.

[ Shigeru!!! He's too honest for his own good sometimes... ]

[flowlikewater]

[ That makes Genji grin, eyes sparkling a little. ] Did you? I'm glad.

[ With that, he brings his hand back and ever so gently cups Shigeru's chin and leans in a little more. ] I liked it too.

[ Genji is suddenly overcome with the all encompassing desire to kiss him... but he doesn't want to go too far, or d something Shigeru doesn't want. He looks down at his lips, then back to his eyes. ]

[mysophobic]

[ Oh. Wow. Genji looks so...handsome when he's like this. For some reason Shigeru's body shivers a little and thankfully he's wearing long sleeves because his arms are covered in goose bumps. Otherwise the only notion that he even reacted to that is the stilted breath he takes when Genji cups his chin.

He'll swallow thickly before nodding ever so slightly. He really wants Genji to kiss him too, apparently, even his body won't deny him that. His anxiety over the idea is pushed way back into his mind for the moment, his desire taking over and forcibly shutting down his fight or flight response. But he was also used to being kissed, by Dodger, but even then afterwards he'd have to clean his face and hands. He knows this won't be different, but right now he doesn't care about that. He's always used to being denied things because of his phobia and he hates it when that happens. He won't be denied this, not right now, when it's with someone he cares about and has feelings for. His breathing is a little shaky but he wants to be impulsive and do what he really wants and that's have Genji kiss him. ]

[flowlikewater]

[ That shiver and nod are more than enough to get Genji to finally close their distance, fluttering his own eyes closed. He brushes his rough upper lip against his first, before leaning in more with his synthetic bottom one. It's gentle, barely a touch, no heat behind it... merely exploratory, testing the waters.

He cares about Shigeru a lot, this strong person who has shown him such kindness since he's been here. A kindred spirit... and he knows it's probably just for fun, but if he's also a soulmate of his then he's just fine with that too.

Genji pulls away after one more faint brush of his lips. His breath comes out in a croaky rush when he speaks. ] I hope— that wasn't too much.

[ Some of his senses are returning to him, so lost in the moment before. ]

[mysophobic]

[ Ah. This is...not something he'd ever imagine himself doing with Genji. When they had first met he'd never have considered their relationship to turn into something like this of all things.

Shigeru's own breathing is a little jilted when Genji pulls away. His face is so flushed and red that he has to take a moment to compose himself. He shakes his head 'no' in response to the question, only coming to like the other more when he asks about him and his condition. Genji was so...concerned and thoughtful when it came to his phobia. It was a nice change of pace for him. ]

That was nice...fine too. It was...it was good! [ What does he even type?! He looks away shyly as he just...puts his phone back in his pocket. Maybe he should just stop talking now. ]

[flowlikewater]

[ Genji kind of can't believe he even did that?! He thought his impulsive days were long behind him... but the whole world seemed to shrink in that moment, until it was just them and he'd just been so entranced—

He's glad he's okay with it thought. Genji smiles and clears his throat, pulling away a bit more and putting his hands on his thighs. ] I'm glad, then. I got a little... swept up in the moment there. I never want to make you uncomfortable.

[mysophobic]

[ His blush just won't go away at the moment, but he does shake his head. ]

You could never make me uncomfortable. You asked for my permission and I...really appreciate that. [ It's that sort of thoughtful kindness that's attracting him so much to the other man as well. ]

I...liked it too, so, you don't have to worry. [ He looks so shy when he shows Genji that reply, ah, he really did like it and all the usual anxieties he'd have weren't as bad this time around. Maybe he really is getting better?! ]

With you...my phobia doesn't come out as much either. [ Maybe it's due to Genji's zen like demeanor? ]

[flowlikewater]

[ Genji's cheeks are quite pink themselves. And he kind of can't stop a broad smile at what he says, feeling warmth flutter up from his stomach and into his chest. Although it makes him wonder how many people don't ask permission... Genji doesn't think he'd done anything extraordinary in the first place. Oh Shigeru.

He scratches under his nose and looks up at the sky a moment, a little shy and a little smitten. ] That makes me happy to hear, that you feel comfortable I mean. I get a great sense of peace when we speak as well, I look forward to it.

[ Genji looks back down and huffs a little laugh, voice still a little hoarse. ] I guess... would you call this a second date then?

[mysophobic]

[ Then they can be smitten together, honestly. Shigeru hasn't felt like this with anyone outside of Alex back home. But having his feelings acknowledged and...reciprocated really does wonders for his mindset.

He smiles shyly as he nods. ]

I think we can call it that, yes. I don't know the criteria for what makes up a date...but I really enjoyed spending time with you like this.

[ Who knew that a simple potion could...manifest feelings like this. ]

[flowlikewater]

[ Genji was so... physical and superficial when he was younger, he doesn't think he's had a genuine connection like this with another person for years. It's a wonderful little feeling, a warmth settling in his chest that he wants to cherish.

He smiles broadly at that, nodding. ] I enjoy spending time with you as well, Shigeru. [ He puts his hand on the back of his neck, rubbing at the base of his hair. ] A 'date' or otherwise.

[mysophobic]

[ And Shigeru was quite the opposite. Never really being physical but never having the chance to be and yet...he cares more deeply about anyone else, especially people he likes. ]

We should do it again...sometime, maybe?!

[ Is he being way too bold saying that!? ]

[flowlikewater]

[ His smile turns into a slightly roguish grin. ] We should. [ He chuckles and rubs his finger under his nose again. ] And hopefully I won't be so flustered when I run into you again like earlier.

[mysophobic]

[ Well it's Shigeru's turn to give a wry smile back at Genji. ]

I was surprised. Usually I'm the only one that gets like that. I didn't think you could...get so flustered. But it was...cute.

[ Shigeru please?! You can't just say people getting flustered is cute. ]

[flowlikewater]

[ And that gets an odd little... strangled noise in the back of Genji's throat as he reads that, which turns into an embarrassed little laugh. He runs a hand through his hair. ] Well it certainly doesn't happen very often. You should count yourself fortunate to witness it. [ Cause it is probably more accurate, but...

He takes a final swig of his coffee, to stop himself from saying something about who's really the cute one. ]

[mysophobic]

[ Shigeru's smirk only broadens at that. ]

I am really lucky...to have seen it and to spend time with you like this too. I promise I won't tell anyone though!

[ Genji probably doesn't even care but if he did...Shigeru won't tell anyone in good conscious. ]